W
WOLFSQUALL
Guest
( ♬ ) Though the air was slowly fading from a heavy heat to a crispness as the seasons changed, the sun still shone. Beams of light landed upon the river, light refracting in all directions across the flowing surface. Scenic. The river had a sense of calm about it, but those who were familiar with the beast would never be fooled. There were the shallows, of course, where young ones played without a second thought. There were the easy hunting locations, in and out with a stack of fish in moments. Areas like this were less so inclined to treat their visitors with such respect. But beneath that misleading surface of glittering reflect was gold. Who needed a stack of fish when you could catch one that amounted to just as much food?
Looming above the river was one Wolfsquall. His stature was of one who stood tall, and would perhaps stand even taller should his posture not be shoulders pushed up and head lowered in a hung. Following the nature of his posture, fur seemed to stick up along the ridge of his back, not unlike the spikes of a cactus. Patches of sunlight filtered through the sparse trees above gave his fur the quality of the last tree remaining from a forest fire; the color of bark that had covered in a thin layer of ash, the remnants of his surroundings. All in all, he looked remarkably unkempt. Unapproachable, even. The focus upon his face would feel out of place to anyone who had never met the man, and judged firmly based on first impressions. That focus was genuine, however, and it paid off. He finally spotted it. A catfish.
Big fella too... Damn good find, Wolf.
Eyes locked on the fish as it slowly made it's way closer and closer towards Wolfsquall. Claws were let out and back in again, paws flexing and unflexing, as the cat lowered himself closer to the ground. This was not a fish he could swipe at with one swift motion. He needed to dive for it. Careful to keep his shadow away from surfacing upon the water, and locking himself in place to avoid carelessly scaring away the catch of the day, he waited with bated breaths. The closer it got, the more he held his breath, until finally the catfish was directly in front of him. An influx of air in one deep inhale caused his chest to rise, right before holding his breath and jumping for it. Back legs gave him all the power he needed to land right upon this monster of a fish, one quick bite, and drag it back up to shore. At least, his back legs gave him all the power he thought he needed.
For a moment, all was fine. He reached the water— though how good a start this was was debatable as water was never his favorite place to be immersed in— and bared his teeth in preparation for the catch. Paws landed upon the fish, and he lunged for the kill. Before he could get the kill however, the catfish made it clear it was not happy with this ordeal. A quick flick of it's tail and Wolf's front paws slipped away, pulling him further into the water alongside them. Dark paws hit the rocky bottom of the river, and that catch of the day took it's chance at one final piece of payback. The same tail that slid his paws away, reared back and hit Wolfsquall across the jaw with a force that made it seem planned and personal. Just as soon as he had the fish in his grasp, it had swum away to safety, and the ashy tom was left scrambling to find his way back to the shore.
Paws flailing and tail flicking around created splashes of water that guaranteed no more fish would swim in this area. And any cat who managed to see it would have quite an entertaining show to see. A scowl placed itself on Wolf's face long before he managed to pull himself back on solid land. River water had made its way down his throat in between gasps, so rather than hurried breaths for air when his head popped back up, he greeted the world out of water with a loud hack of a cough. Claws dug their way slowly across the mud and onto shore. If he had any less dignity, he'd flop to the floor in that instant.
"Slippery son of a bitch..." he sputtered, still coughing on the water he'd managed to gulp down in the ordeal, "I had him..." He was sure no Riverclanner would ever look more like they didn't belong in water than Wolf in that exact moment. Soaked to the bone, and sore in the jaw from a fish of all things. Good thing no one was around to see this shame. So he thought.
tl;dr wolfsquall goes out fishing. finds a big ol catfish. overestimates his skills with massive fish and swimming, gets slapped by the fish and splashes around in the water for a bit before he can finally pull himself out. and now he stands at the edge of the river looking like a cat who's really mad that you just tried to give it a bath
"speech"
( SERPENTS IN MY MIND ; LOOKING FOR YOUR CRIMES )Looming above the river was one Wolfsquall. His stature was of one who stood tall, and would perhaps stand even taller should his posture not be shoulders pushed up and head lowered in a hung. Following the nature of his posture, fur seemed to stick up along the ridge of his back, not unlike the spikes of a cactus. Patches of sunlight filtered through the sparse trees above gave his fur the quality of the last tree remaining from a forest fire; the color of bark that had covered in a thin layer of ash, the remnants of his surroundings. All in all, he looked remarkably unkempt. Unapproachable, even. The focus upon his face would feel out of place to anyone who had never met the man, and judged firmly based on first impressions. That focus was genuine, however, and it paid off. He finally spotted it. A catfish.
Big fella too... Damn good find, Wolf.
Eyes locked on the fish as it slowly made it's way closer and closer towards Wolfsquall. Claws were let out and back in again, paws flexing and unflexing, as the cat lowered himself closer to the ground. This was not a fish he could swipe at with one swift motion. He needed to dive for it. Careful to keep his shadow away from surfacing upon the water, and locking himself in place to avoid carelessly scaring away the catch of the day, he waited with bated breaths. The closer it got, the more he held his breath, until finally the catfish was directly in front of him. An influx of air in one deep inhale caused his chest to rise, right before holding his breath and jumping for it. Back legs gave him all the power he needed to land right upon this monster of a fish, one quick bite, and drag it back up to shore. At least, his back legs gave him all the power he thought he needed.
For a moment, all was fine. He reached the water— though how good a start this was was debatable as water was never his favorite place to be immersed in— and bared his teeth in preparation for the catch. Paws landed upon the fish, and he lunged for the kill. Before he could get the kill however, the catfish made it clear it was not happy with this ordeal. A quick flick of it's tail and Wolf's front paws slipped away, pulling him further into the water alongside them. Dark paws hit the rocky bottom of the river, and that catch of the day took it's chance at one final piece of payback. The same tail that slid his paws away, reared back and hit Wolfsquall across the jaw with a force that made it seem planned and personal. Just as soon as he had the fish in his grasp, it had swum away to safety, and the ashy tom was left scrambling to find his way back to the shore.
Paws flailing and tail flicking around created splashes of water that guaranteed no more fish would swim in this area. And any cat who managed to see it would have quite an entertaining show to see. A scowl placed itself on Wolf's face long before he managed to pull himself back on solid land. River water had made its way down his throat in between gasps, so rather than hurried breaths for air when his head popped back up, he greeted the world out of water with a loud hack of a cough. Claws dug their way slowly across the mud and onto shore. If he had any less dignity, he'd flop to the floor in that instant.
"Slippery son of a bitch..." he sputtered, still coughing on the water he'd managed to gulp down in the ordeal, "I had him..." He was sure no Riverclanner would ever look more like they didn't belong in water than Wolf in that exact moment. Soaked to the bone, and sore in the jaw from a fish of all things. Good thing no one was around to see this shame. So he thought.
tl;dr wolfsquall goes out fishing. finds a big ol catfish. overestimates his skills with massive fish and swimming, gets slapped by the fish and splashes around in the water for a bit before he can finally pull himself out. and now he stands at the edge of the river looking like a cat who's really mad that you just tried to give it a bath
"speech"
